League of Legends owes a lot to the fact that it’s a free game. You might argue that people would still have played back when it was first released – regardless of whether or not it cost money. While this might be true, it wouldn’t have gathered nearly as many players as it has at the moment, and here’s why;
Back when LoL first launched, most of our online friends were college kids, and while college might help make you rich in the future, you’re usually broke while you’re there.
Our friends had spent years playing games like World of Warcraft and Runescape. They were invested, some might say addicted.
If a new game wanted to rope them in, then it had to do so straight away. It had to wow them over and over, or they’d get bored and go back to WoW.
Let’s be honest, League of Legends wasn’t that amazing during its first year. The graphics were garbage, and the gameplay wasn’t all that different from games like Heroes of Newerth, either. What set it apart from other titles, was the fact that it was free.
This could be compared to the incredibly popular film “Night of the Living Dead.” This movie is what gave rise to modern zombies as we know them. However, due to some copyright issues, Night of the Living Dead entered the public domain right after release.
This meant that anyone could watch the movie for free, and people who didn’t even like horror movies went to see it. After all, it was free.
Once again, it was proven that word of mouth is the best form of advertising. The movie is now seen as a masterpiece, and the writer actually went on to make a couple more movies that were incredibly successful – and this time, he did get paid for them, his paycheck was in the millions.
What does this have to do with League of Legends? During LoL’s early days, free games were a rarity – sure, there was a couple of MMO’s that offered you an hour or two of free content. If you wanted to leave the starting area though, you had to get through a paywall.
Other free games were out there, but they are older than we are. The only real alternative was Miniclip, and that site wasn’t known for its multiplayer games.
People thought the idea of League of Legends was a radical one, and many thought it would fail within a year. Fast forward a decade and here we are – LoL is one of the biggest games in the world, and the market is flooded with free to play titles.
Is League of Legends truly free though? After all, Riot seem to be rolling in money. In order to start unpacking this complicated question, we need to break down an essential part of LoL
Speaking from personal experience, we’ve purchased more Champions that we should have, and we sort of wish we hadn’t. It seems silly right, why pay for something you can get for free?
It all comes down to pressure and impatience. People enjoy feeling like they’re useful, and they want to try new things. The fastest way to get both those things is by paying for them. You see, if you’re a newbie at League, then the odds are really stacked against you;
First off, you’ll likely have friends who already play the game, and you’ll probably want to impress them. That’s all well and good, except for the fact that when you first start out, you have about five Champions. Sure, Champion capsules make things a bit easier, but it’s still a challenge.
You could stick to plain old free rotation Champions of course, but they’ll get snatched away just as you’re getting used to them. The quickest way to get the Champions that you’ll enjoy is to buy them. After all, they’re so cheap. Right?
It certainly seems like it at first glance – and that first glance is what Riot’s banking on, it’s how they make their money. Let’s break down the cost of a couple of LoL Champions.
Riot have their own in-game currency, which is a crafty way of getting you to spend more. You will rarely be able to purchase just a single Champion, as you would if skins were sold in Dollars. Instead, you have to pay more than the cost of the skin;
Take Yasuo for example. If you want to pick him up, you’ll need 1380 RP, which will set you back 10 dollars. That’s just under three dollars above the minimum wage for an hours work. Pretty expensive when you look at it like this. However, you do still have enough RP to pick up one of the 260 RP cost Champions.
In a game that has well over 100 Champions to choose from, only 14 Champions cost 260 RP. Let’s look at some of the Champions that you can pick up with your spare RP.
If you think all these Champions seem ridiculously simple, then you would be right. And the truth is, you might enjoy playing some of them. However, new players usually become fascinated by Champions like Gnar, Ekko, or Pyke. These Champions are flashy, interesting, and, sadly, they all cost 975 RP.
Some might claim that you can just play the game and get Champions that way, and that’s true! The thing is, you’re going to have to play many games if you want to have the Champions that you really want.
We’ll be brutally honest here; One of the worst parts about levelling a smurf is down to the Champions.
Anyone who’s ever levelled a smurf likely knows this feeling. You’re excited to start your journey, can’t wait to hit level 30 and get right into ranked. But then, you realize how many games you’re going to have to suffer through. It becomes a grind, and if you wanted a grind, you would have stuck to World of Warcraft – don’t hate us if you’re a WoW fan, you knowit can be tough at times.
But let’s say you wanted to unlock every Champion in the game. Currently, the cost to buy every Champion is over 495,000 IP. This means that if you play three games a day AND get your win of the day bonus, it would take you over three years to get every Champion in the game.
If you’re anything like us, you’ll agree that that’s far too much time to spend unlocking everything the game has to offer. What’s the solution though? You need to play, after all.
We suggest that you take a look at our wide range of smurf accounts. Not only will they save you plenty of time, but you can also gain access to some incredibly rare skins!
Experience the intrigue of the article titled "Why do people hate league of legends?" as it unravels the complex relationship people have with this renowned game. Delve into the psychological dynamics, competitive rivalries, and addictive allure that elicit strong emotions from players. Explore the captivating reasons why League of Legends simultaneously captivates and polarizes the gaming community.
